Systems, methods, and computer program products for a shipping application having an automated trigger term tool

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments provide a shipping request system for dynamically identifying one or more restricted items within shipping requests. The system comprises: one or more memory storage areas containing data and one or more computer processors. The computer processors are configured to: receive input content data comprising one or more terms descriptive of one or more items for which shipment is requested, and retrieve trigger data from the one or more memory storage areas, the trigger data being associated with one or more terms related to one or more restrictions placed upon shipment of an item. The input content data is then dynamically compared against the trigger data to identify one or more correlations indicative of the presence of one or more restricted items. If correlations are identified, further shipment request processing is prevented; otherwise processing may continue. Associated computer program products and computer implemented methods are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/720,655, filed Oct. 31, 2012, the contents of which,including any appendices attached thereto, are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Various industry and legislatively-imposed regulations and securitymeasures restrict and/or prohibit shipping and transporting certainarticles via common carrier service providers. As a non-limitingexample, in certain instances the restricted articles have been deemeddangerous, hazardous, or unsafe, thus requiring stricter scrutiny bycommon carrier service providers to ensure that such articles are notinadvertently passed through their carrier systems undetected. Liabilityexposure can oftentimes be significant, carrying civil penalties up$250-$50,000 per violation, increasable to $100,000 if injury occurs.Criminal penalties may also exist, up to $500,000 and/or five yearsimprisonment per violation.

Still further, at least the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) and othercomparable regulatory bodies have indicated planned implementation ofauditing procedures of common carrier service providers. Certain auditsmay involve introducing purposely prepared non-compliant hazardousmaterial packages as a test of common carrier training and procedures.Inconsistent and/or inadvertent acceptance of such non-compliant “audit”packages would lead to further scrutiny and/or one or more penaltiessuch as or in addition to those previously mentioned.

Thus, a need exists for a simplistic tool that ensures consistent,efficient, and accurate identification of restricted and/or prohibiteditems as part of processing a customer shipping request, withouthindering pre-existing customer conveniences and interfaces.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to various embodiments of the present invention, a shippingrequest system is provided for dynamically identifying one or morerestricted items within shipping requests for transport of one or morepackages via a common carrier service provider. The system comprises:one or more memory storage areas containing restricted content dataassociated with one or more restrictions placed upon contents of packageshipments handled by the common carrier service provider, and triggerdata associated with one or more terms related to the one or morerestrictions; and one or more computer processors. The one or morecomputer processors are configured to: receive input content datacomprising one or more terms descriptive of one or more items for whichshipment is requested via the common carrier service provider; retrievethe trigger data from the one or more memory storage areas; dynamicallycompare the input content data against the retrieved trigger data toidentify one or more correlations there-between, the one or morecorrelations being indicative of the presence of one or more restricteditems; in response to identifying one or more correlations, preventfurther processing of the shipment request; and in response to notidentifying one or more correlations, facilitate further processing ofthe shipment request.

In certain embodiments of the system, in response to identifying one ormore correlations, the one or more computer processors are furtherconfigured to generate one or more notifications thereof. In at leastone embodiment of the system, the one or more notifications furthercomprise a display of information related to one or more categoriesassociated with the one or more restricted items indicated by the one ormore correlations.

In other embodiments of the system, in response to identifying one ormore correlations, the one or more computer processors are configured togenerate a display of information related to one or more categoriesassociated with the one or more correlations, the display of informationcomprising at least a portion of the restricted content data. In atleast one embodiment of the system, the generated display isautomatically updated in a dynamic fashion corresponding to the dynamiccomparison of the input content data and the retrieved trigger data.

In still other embodiments of the system, the one or more computerprocessors are configured to prevent further processing of the shipmentrequest until input content data has been received and the existence ofno correlations has been confirmed by a user of the system.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, anon-transitory computer program product is provided comprising at leastone computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable programcode portions embodied therein. The computer-readable program codeportions comprise: a first executable portion configured for receiving aplurality of data, wherein the data comprises: (i) restricted contentdata associated with one or more restrictions placed upon packageshipments handled by a common carrier service provider; and (ii) triggerdata associated with one or more terms related to the one or morerestrictions. The computer-readable program code portions furthercomprise: (B) a second executable portion configured for dynamicallycomparing the input content data against the retrieved trigger data toidentify one or more correlations there-between, the one or morecorrelations being indicative of the presence of one or more restricteditems, the input content data comprising one or more terms descriptiveof one or more items for which shipment is requested via the commoncarrier service provider; and (C) a third executable portion configuredfor: (i) in response to identifying one or more correlations, preventingfurther processing of the shipment request; and (ii) in response to notidentifying one or more correlations, facilitating further processing ofthe shipment request.

In certain embodiments of the non-transitory computer program productthe second executable portion is further configured for dynamicallyscrubbing the input content data against the retrieved trigger data onan individual keystroke basis; the second executable portion is furtherconfigured to dynamically generate and update a display of informationrelated to the one or more identified correlations, based at least inpart upon the individual keystroke scrubbing; and the third executableportion is further configured to dynamically generate one or morenotifications in response to identifying the one or more correlations.

In certain embodiments of the non-transitory computer program product,the third executable portion is further configured for preventingfurther processing of the shipment request pending receipt ofconfirmation data, the confirmation data comprising at least one of anindication that no restricted items have been identified as existingwithin the one or more packages for which shipment via the commoncarrier service provider is requested and an indication that anyidentified restricted items have been removed from including within theone or more packages for which shipment via the common carrier serviceprovider is requested. In at least one embodiments of the computerprogram product, the third executable portion is still furtherconfigured for preventing further processing of the shipment requestuntil at least some portion of input content data has been received.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, acomputer-implemented method is provided for dynamically identifying oneor more restricted items within shipping requests for transport of oneor more packages via a common carrier service provider. Variousembodiments of the method comprise the steps of: receiving and storingwithin one or more memory storage areas trigger data associated with oneor more terms related to one or more restrictions placed upon contentsof package shipments handled by the common carrier service provider;receiving input content data comprising one or more terms descriptive ofone or more items for which shipment is requested via the common carrierservice provider; dynamically comparing, via at least one computerprocessor, the input content data against the retrieved trigger data toidentify one or more correlations there-between, the one or morecorrelations being indicative of the presence of one or more restricteditems; in response to identifying one or more correlations, preventfurther processing of the shipment request; and in response to notidentifying one or more correlations, facilitate further processing ofthe shipment request.

In certain embodiments, the computer-implemented method may furthercomprise the steps of: receiving and storing within one or more memorystorage areas restricted content data associated with the one or morerestrictions placed upon contents of package shipments handled by thecommon carrier service provider; and in response to identifying one ormore correlations, generating a display providing to a user at least aportion of the restricted content data, the portion being that which iscategorically associated with the one or more trigger terms for whichthe one or more correlations are identified. In at least one embodiment,the dynamic comparison of the input content data against the triggerdata occurs on a keystroke-by-keystroke entry basis; and the generateddisplay providing the user at least a portion of the restricted contentdata is dynamically updated based at least in part upon a correspondingupdate of the input content data on a keystroke-by-keystroke entrybasis. In still other embodiments, the computer-implemented methodsfurther comprises the step of facilitating further processing of theshipping request only upon receipt of input content data and at leastone of a confirmation that at least one of no correlations wereidentified and a confirmation that any identified correlations have beenresolved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The accompanying drawings incorporated herein and forming a part of thedisclosure illustrate several aspects of the present invention andtogether with the detailed description serve to explain certainprinciples of the present invention. In the drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a shipping request system 20 according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 2 is schematic block diagram of a shipping request server 200according to various embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an overall process flow for various modules of theshipping request server 200 according to various embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of various databases that areutilized by the shipping request system 20 shown in FIG. 1 according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a data module 400, a trigger termmodule 500, and a report module 600, as also illustrated in FIGS. 2 and3 according to various embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary process flow according to variousembodiments for the data module 400 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary process flow according to variousembodiments for the trigger term module 500 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5; a

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary process flow according to variousembodiments for the report module 600 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5;

FIG. 9 is a view of an exemplary service selection screen display 1000of an exemplary user interface of the shipping request system 20according to various embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a view of the exemplary content selection screen display 1100of the user interface of FIG. 9, further illustrating a categoricaloverview panel 1200 according to various embodiments;

FIG. 11 is a view of the exemplary content selection screen display 1100of FIG. 10, further illustrating an exemplary information preview panel1225 accessible via various embodiments of the categorical overviewpanel 1220 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a view of the exemplary categorical detail panel 1300 of theuser interface of FIG. 9 according to various embodiments;

FIG. 13 is another view of the exemplary content selection screendisplay 1100 of the user interface of FIG. 9, further illustrating acontent entry portion 1110 according to various embodiments;

FIG. 14 is a view of the exemplary content selection screen display 1100of the user interface of FIG. 9, further illustrating an exemplarytrigger term panel 1400, as may, according to various embodiments, beassociated with a trigger term module 500 of the system and be displayedupon entry of text within the content entry portion 1110;

FIG. 15 is another view of the exemplary trigger term panel 1400 of FIG.14, illustrating multiple descriptive portions 1420, 1430, displayedaccording to various embodiments upon entry of one or more “triggerterms” in the content entry portion 1110;

FIG. 16 is a view of the exemplary content selection screen display 1100of the user interface of FIG. 9, illustrating a dynamic update featureof the exemplary trigger term panel 1400 of FIG. 14 according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 17 is another view of the exemplary content selection screendisplay 1100 of the user interface of FIG. 9, illustrating furtherfeatures thereof according to various embodiments;

FIG. 18 is a view of the exemplary content selection screen display 1100of the user interface of FIG. 9, illustrating a “toggling” featureaccording to various embodiments for switching between the trigger termpanel 1400 and the categorical overview panel 1200 even after entry ofdata within the content entry portion 1110;

FIG. 19 is a view of the exemplary content selection screen display 1100of the user interface of FIG. 9, further illustrating a “commonmisspelling” feature found within the system and displayed via at leastthe trigger term panel 1400 according to various embodiments;

FIG. 20 is a view of the exemplary content selection screen display 1100of the user interface of FIG. 9, further illustrating a confirmationportion 1150 according to various embodiments;

FIG. 21 is a view of an exemplary review and finalization screen display1500 of the user interface of FIG. 9, as may be associated with thereport module 600 according to various embodiments; and

FIG. 22 is a view of an exemplary reporting screen display 1600 of theuser interface of FIG. 9 according to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed,embodiments of the invention may be embodied in many different forms andshould not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure willsatisfy applicable legal requirements. Unless otherwise defined, alltechnical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning ascommonly known and understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich the invention relates. The term “or” is used herein in both thealternative and conjunctive sense, unless otherwise indicated. Likenumbers refer to like elements throughout.

Generally speaking, various embodiments are configured to facilitateconsistent identification of prohibited articles by providing a toolthat runs an application to dynamically analyze “description ofcontents” information, in a real-time fashion as such description issupplied by a customer requesting a shipment. In certain embodiments,the application will dynamically analyze the customer entered dataagainst a likewise dynamic list of known trigger terms, each indicatingthat a particular hazardous and/or prohibited material may be present.If a match or near-match is found, the tool will block furthercompletion of the shipment request and facilitate the customer answeringfurther questions concerning their shipment. If the issue cannot beresolved electronically, the application will facilitate connecting thecustomer to a customer center representative.

Apparatuses, Methods, Systems, and Computer Program Products

As should be appreciated, various embodiments may be implemented invarious ways, including as apparatuses, methods, systems, or computerprogram products. Accordingly, the embodiments may take the form of anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment in which a processor isprogrammed to perform certain steps. Furthermore, variousimplementations may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable programinstructions embodied in the storage medium. In such embodiments, anysuitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized including harddisks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

Various embodiments are described below with reference to block diagramsand flowchart illustrations of apparatuses, methods, systems, andcomputer program products. It should be understood that each block ofany of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, maybe implemented in part by computer program instructions, e.g., aslogical steps or operations executing on a processor in a computingsystem. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto acomputer, such as a special purpose computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a specifically-configured machine, suchthat the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus implement the functions specifiedin the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including computer-readableinstructions for implementing the functionality specified in theflowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatusto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computeror other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implementedprocess such that the instructions that execute on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus provide operations for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport various combinations for performing the specified functions,combinations of operations for performing the specified functions andprogram instructions for performing the specified functions. It shouldalso be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams andflowchart illustrations, could be implemented by special purposehardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions oroperations, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

Exemplary System Architecture

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a shipping request system 20 that can beused in conjunction with various embodiments of the present invention.In at least the illustrated embodiment, the shipping request system 20may include one or more distributed computing devices 100, one or moredistributed handheld devices 110, and one or more central computingdevices 120, each configured in communication with a shipping requestserver 200 via one or more networks 130. While FIG. 1 illustrates thevarious system entities as separate, standalone entities, the variousembodiments are not limited to this particular architecture.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the one ormore networks 130 may be capable of supporting communication inaccordance with any one or more of a number of second-generation (2G),2.5G, third-generation (3G), and/or fourth-generation (4G) mobilecommunication protocols, or the like. More particularly, the one or morenetworks 130 may be capable of supporting communication in accordancewith 2G wireless communication protocols IS-136 (TDMA), GSM, and IS-95(CDMA). Also, for example, the one or more networks 130 may be capableof supporting communication in accordance with 2.5G wirelesscommunication protocols GPRS, Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), orthe like. In addition, for example, the one or more networks 130 may becapable of supporting communication in accordance with 3G wirelesscommunication protocols such as Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS)network employing Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) radioaccess technology. Some narrow-band AMPS (NAMPS), as well as TACS,network(s) may also benefit from embodiments of the present invention,as should dual or higher mode mobile stations (e.g., digital/analog orTDMA/CDMA/analog phones). As yet another example, each of the componentsof the system 5 may be configured to communicate with one another inaccordance with techniques such as, for example, radio frequency (RF),Bluetooth™, infrared (IrDA), or any of a number of different wired orwireless networking techniques, including a wired or wireless PersonalArea Network (“PAN”), Local Area Network (“LAN”), Metropolitan AreaNetwork (“MAN”), Wide Area Network (“WAN”), or the like.

Although the distributed computing device(s) 100, the distributedhandheld device(s) 110, the central computing device(s) 120, and theshipping request server 200 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as communicatingwith one another over the same network 130, these devices may likewisecommunicate over multiple, separate networks. For example, while thecentral computing devices 120 may communicate with the server 200 over awireless personal area network (WPAN) using, for example, Bluetoothtechniques, one or more of the distributed devices 100, 110 maycommunicate with the server 200 over a wireless wide area network(WWAN), for example, in accordance with EDGE, or some other 2.5Gwireless communication protocol.

According to one embodiment, in addition to receiving data from theserver 200, the distributed computing devices 100, the distributedhandheld devices 110, and the central computing devices 120 may befurther configured to collect and transmit data on their own. Indeed,the distributed computing devices 100, the distributed handheld devices110, and the central computing devices 120 may be any device associatedwith a carrier (e.g., a common carrier, such as UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc.).In certain embodiments, one or more of the distributed computing devices100 and the distributed handheld devices 110 may be associated with anindependent third party user, as opposed to a carrier. Regardless, invarious embodiments, the distributed computing devices 100, thedistributed handheld devices 110, and the central computing devices 120may be capable of receiving data via one or more input units or devices,such as a keypad, touchpad, barcode scanner, radio frequencyidentification (RFID) reader, interface card (e.g., modem, etc.) orreceiver. The distributed computing devices 100, the distributedhandheld devices 110, and the central computing devices 120 may furtherbe capable of storing data to one or more volatile or non-volatilememory modules, and outputting the data via one or more output units ordevices, for example, by displaying data to the user operating thedevice, or by transmitting data, for example over the one or morenetworks 130. One type of a distributed handheld device 110, which maybe used in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention is theDelivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD) presently utilized byUPS.

Shipping Request Server 200

In various embodiments, the shipping request server 200 includes varioussystems for performing one or more functions in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, including those more particularlyshown and described herein. It should be understood, however, that theshipping request server 200 might include a variety of alternativedevices for performing one or more like functions, without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, atleast a portion of the server 200, in certain embodiments, may belocated on the distributed computing device(s) 100, the distributedhandheld device(s) 110, and the central computing device(s) 120, as maybe desirable for particular applications.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the shipping request server 200according to various embodiments. The server 200 includes a processor230 that communicates with other elements within the server via a systeminterface or bus 235. Also included in the server 200 is a display/inputdevice 250 for receiving and displaying data. This display/input device250 may be, for example, a keyboard or pointing device that is used incombination with a monitor. The server 200 further includes memory 220,which preferably includes both read only memory (ROM) 226 and randomaccess memory (RAM) 222. The server's ROM 226 is used to store a basicinput/output system 224 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that helpto transfer information between elements within the server 200.

In addition, the shipping request server 200 includes at least onestorage device or program storage 210, such as a hard disk drive, afloppy disk drive, a CD Rom drive, or optical disk drive, for storinginformation on various computer-readable media, such as a hard disk, aremovable magnetic disk, or a CD-ROM disk. As will be appreciated by oneof ordinary skill in the art, each of these storage devices 210 areconnected to the system bus 235 by an appropriate interface. The storagedevices 210 and their associated computer-readable media providenonvolatile storage for a personal computer. As will be appreciated byone of ordinary skill in the art, the computer-readable media describedabove could be replaced by any other type of computer-readable mediaknown in the art. Such media include, for example, magnetic cassettes,flash memory cards, digital video disks, and Bernoulli cartridges.

Although not shown, according to an embodiment, the storage device 210and/or memory of the shipping request server 200 may further provide thefunctions of a data storage device, which may store historical and/orcurrent delivery data and delivery conditions that may be accessed bythe server 200. In this regard, the storage device 210 may comprise oneor more databases. The term “database” refers to a structured collectionof records or data that is stored in a computer system, such as via arelational database, hierarchical database, or network database and assuch, should not be construed in a limiting fashion.

A number of program modules comprising, for example, one or morecomputer-readable program code portions executable by the processor 230,may be stored by the various storage devices 210 and within RAM 222.Such program modules include an operating system 280, a data module 400,a trigger term module 500, and a report module 600. In these and otherembodiments, the various modules 400, 500, 600 control certain aspectsof the operation of the shipping request server 200 with the assistanceof the processor 230 and operating system 280. In still otherembodiments, it should be understood that one or more additional and/oralternative modules may also be provided, without departing from thescope and nature of the present invention.

In general, as will be described in further detail below, the datamodule 400 is configured to receive, store, manage, and transmitrestricted content data 410, input content data 420, trigger term data430, and shipment data 440 (see FIG. 5). According to variousembodiments, the data module 400 is configured to provide anycombination of the above data to at least the trigger module 500,whether proactively or upon request therefor. In certain embodiments, atleast a portion of the data, such as for example the shipment data 440may be separately provided to the report module 600, as will bedescribed in further detail below.

Upon receipt and/or retrieval of any portion of the above-referenceddata (although in particular input content data 420 and/or shipment data440), the trigger module 500 is configured to activate a trigger termtool 510 (see FIG. 5). The trigger term tool 510 is configured to“scrub” (i.e., compare) at least the input content data 420 against therestricted content data 410 so as to identify matches (or near- orpartial-matches) to restricted content items, as may be definedaccording to various embodiments by any of a variety of regulatoryentities, as commonly known and understood in the art. If anycorrelations exist to sufficiently “trigger” a match, the trigger termtool 510 is configured to generate restricted data 512, which comprisesat least the matched (or correlated) terms and transmit such to thereport module 600. If no “matching” correlations exist, the trigger termtool 510 continues processing dynamically received data until either (1)a match is identified; or (2) no matches are identified, in which caseunrestricted data 514 is generated. In either scenario, beforecompleting processing, the trigger term tool 510 according to variousembodiments is further configured to confirm completion of data inputand generate confirmation data 516, which is likewise transmitted to thereport module 600.

According to various embodiments, the report module 600 is configured toactivate one or more of a restriction tool 610 and a shipment tool 620to further processes received restricted data 512, unrestricted data514, and/or confirmation data 516. In this manner, the report module 600generates one or more reports, notifications, and/or alerts, as may bedesirable for certain applications. All of these features and stillfurther details surrounding the operation and configuration of thevarious modules 400, 500, and 600 will be described in further detaillater herein.

In various embodiments, the program modules 400, 500, 600 are executedby the shipping request server 200 and are configured to generate one ormore graphical user interfaces, reports, instructions, and/ornotifications/alerts, all accessible and/or transmittable to varioususers of the system 20. Exemplary user interfaces and the like may beseen in at least FIGS. 9-22, all of which will be described in furtherdetail below. In certain embodiments, the user interfaces, reports,instructions, and/or notifications/alerts may be accessible via one ormore networks 130, which may include the Internet or other feasiblecommunications network, as previously discussed. In other embodiments,one or more of the modules 400, 500, 600 may be alternatively and/oradditionally (e.g., in duplicate) stored locally on one or more of thedistributed computing devices 100, the distributed handheld devices 110,and/or the central computing devices 120, and may be executed by one ormore processors of the same. According to various embodiments, themodules 400, 500, 600 may send data to, receive data from, and utilizedata contained in, one or more databases, which may be comprised of oneor more separate, linked and/or networked databases.

Also located within the shipping request server 200 is a networkinterface 260 for interfacing and communicating with other elements ofthe one or more networks 130. It will be appreciated by one of ordinaryskill in the art that one or more of the server 200 components may belocated geographically remotely from other server components.Furthermore, one or more of the server 200 components may be combined,and/or additional components performing functions described herein mayalso be included in the server.

While the foregoing describes a single processor 230, as one of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize, the shipping request server 200 maycomprise multiple processors operating in conjunction with one anotherto perform the functionality described herein. In addition to the memory220, the processor 230 can also be connected to at least one interfaceor other means for displaying, transmitting and/or receiving data,content or the like. In this regard, the interface(s) can include atleast one communication interface or other means for transmitting and/orreceiving data, content or the like, as well as at least one userinterface that can include a display and/or a user input interface,exemplary illustration of which may be seen in at least FIGS. 9-22, aswill be described in further detail below. The user input interface, inturn, can comprise any of a number of devices allowing the entity toreceive data from a user, such as a keypad, a touch display, a joystickor other input device.

While reference is made to the “server” 200, as one of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize, embodiments of the present invention are notlimited to traditionally defined server architectures. Still further,the system of embodiments of the present invention is not limited to asingle server, or similar network entity or mainframe computer system.Other similar architectures including one or more network entitiesoperating in conjunction with one another to provide the functionalitydescribed herein may likewise be used without departing from the spiritand scope of embodiments of the present invention. For example, a meshnetwork of two or more personal computers (PCs), similar electronicdevices, or handheld portable devices, collaborating with one another toprovide the functionality described herein in association with theserver 200 may likewise be used without departing from the spirit andscope of embodiments of the present invention.

According to various embodiments, many individual steps of a process mayor may not be carried out utilizing the computer systems and/or serversdescribed herein, and the degree of computer implementation may vary.

Shipping Request Server 200 Logic Flow

Reference is now made to FIGS. 3-8, which illustrate various logicalprocess flows executed by various embodiments of the modules describedabove. In particular, FIG. 3 illustrates the overall relationship of themodules 400, 500, 600 of the shipping request server 200, according tovarious embodiments. As illustrated, operation of the system 20 begins,according to various embodiments, with the execution of the data module400, which receive, store, manage, and transmit restricted content data410, input content data 420, trigger term data 430, and shipment data440 (see FIG. 5). At least portions of the data are provided, asdesirable, to at least the trigger term module 500. The trigger module500 is generally configured according to various embodiments to executeone or more tools to “scrub” (i.e., compare) at least the input contentdata 420 against the restricted content data 410 so as to identifymatches (or near- or partial-matches) to restricted content items. Ifany restricted items are identified, restricted data 512 is generatedfor further processing, which according to certain embodiments haltsfurther efforts to ship the item until pertinent restrictions areaddressed. The report module 600 is configured according to variousembodiments to generate one or more reports, notifications, alerts, andthe like, all as may be desirable for particular applications, dependingupon the generation of restricted data 512.

Detailed steps performed by various embodiments of the data module 400are described in relation to FIG. 6; steps performed by variousembodiments of the trigger term module 500 are described in relation toFIG. 7; and steps performed by various embodiments of the report module600 are described in relation to FIG. 8. Exemplary graphical userinterfaces associated with each module and the steps performed therebyare illustrated in at least FIGS. 9-22, which will be referenced inrelation to the steps and processes of FIGS. 6-8, as necessary.

As will be described in more detail below in relation to FIGS. 4 and 5,the data module 400, according to various embodiments, is configured toreceive, store, manage, and transmit restricted content data 410, inputcontent data 420, trigger term data 430, and shipment data 440 betweenone or more databases in communication with the module 400 and at leastthe trigger term module 500. FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram ofvarious exemplary databases via which the data module 400 manages thisinformation. In particular, in at least the embodiment shown in FIG. 4,the following databases are provided: a restricted content data database401, an input content data database 402, a trigger term data database403, and a shipment data database 404. Although the embodiment of FIG. 4shows these databases 401, 402, 403, 404 as being separate databaseseach associated with different types of data, in various otherembodiments, some or all of the data may be stored in the same database.In still other embodiments, additional and/or alternative databases maybe provided, as may also be desirable for particular applications.

According to various embodiments, the restricted content data database401 may be configured to store and maintain a variety of restrictedcontent data 410. In certain embodiments, the restricted content data410 may comprise any of a variety of information concerning parametersassociated with the restriction and/or prohibition of shipping any of aplurality of restricted items via a common carrier service provider.Non-limiting examples include alcoholic item data 411, tobacco item data412, exceptional value item data 413, animal skin & fur item data 414,perishable good data 415, dangerous good data 416, plant & seed data417, money & negotiable item data 418, and firearms & ammunition data419, all as illustrated further in FIG. 11. It should be understood thataccording to various embodiments, a variety of details regarding theseand still other types of data subjected to restrictive and/orprohibitive parameters may be stored within the database 401.Non-limiting examples of such details may include in-depth descriptionsof sub-categories of restricted and/or prohibited items falling withinbroader categorical groups, as will be described in further detailbelow. Other non-limiting examples include sources of the restrictionsand/or prohibitions, along with guidance to facilitate alternativeshipping arrangements and/or to clarify any confusion.

As mentioned, each exemplary category of data (411-419) may include atleast one or more subcategories of data for each. As a non-limitingexample, which may be understood from further reference to FIG. 11, thedangerous goods data 416 may further contain descriptive dataidentifying that such includes at least aerosol sprays, airbags, butane,batteries, cologne, dry ice, fireworks, gasoline, lighters, matches,nail polish, nail polish remover, and nitrogen. In certain embodiments,an additional granularity of guidance data may also be provided (see1128 of FIG. 11), which data may also be stored and maintained in thedatabase 401.

It should further be understood that the restricted content data 410within the database 401 may be received from a variety of sources,either external or internal to the provider of the system 20, as may beappropriate given particular applications. For example, in certainembodiments, at least a portion of the data 410 may be based at least inpart upon restrictions and/or parameters self-imposed by the commoncarrier provider. In other embodiments, at least a portion of the data410 is based at least in part upon industry and/or otherwiselegislatively imposed restrictions and/or parameters, as promulgated bythe non-limited example of the Federal Aviation Association (FAA). Itany of these and still other embodiments, the data 410 within database401 may be periodically and dynamically updated, as updates are made toregulations, parameters, and the like, providing the system 20 with anefficient tool for consistently and accurately identifying andpreventing unauthorized shipment of restricted and/or prohibited items.

In any event, in these and still other embodiments, it should beunderstood that, upon receipt, the restricted data database 401 willstore any newly received restricted content data 410 in a mannerassociated with at least the data module 400 and for provision (whetherautomatically, manually, or at a later time) to one or more of themodules 500-600, as will also be described in further detail below. Incertain embodiments, updated restricted content data 410 will overwritepreviously existing data 410, for example, where regulatory parametershave been changed; in other embodiments, however, updated data may bestored in a manner complementary of pre-existing restricted content data410, as may be desirable for particular scenarios. Of course, in any ofthese and still other embodiments, a variety of alternativeconfigurations could exist, as commonly known and understood in the art.

According to various embodiments, the input content database 402 may beconfigured to store and maintain input content data 420 associated withdata input by a customer seeking to ship an item via a common carrierservice provider and generally describing the item itself. Such may bereceived, for example, via user interfaces such as those exemplaryinterfaces illustrated in at least FIGS. 10-19, as will be described infurther detail later herein. Non-limiting examples of input content data420 include textual entries of terms such as “laptop,” “shirt,” “cash,”“stuffed animal,” “cashmere sweater,” “battery,” “trumpet,” “nailpolish,” “diploma,” “books,” “divorce documents,” “painting,”“pictures,” “fake nails,” “50 caliber rounds,” and the like. It shouldbe understood generally that the input content data 420 may includevirtually any textual description entered by a user of the system 20via, for example, the content entry portion 1110 of the exemplarycontent selection screen display 1100 of at least FIG. 11, as will bedescribed in further detail below. Still further, in any of these andstill other embodiments, it should be understood that, upon receipt, theinput content database 402 will store any such input content data 420 ina manner associated with at least the data module 400 and for provision(whether automatically, manually, or at a later time) to at least thetrigger term module 500, as will also be described in further detailbelow. Of course, in any of these and still other embodiments, a varietyof alternative configurations could exist, as commonly known andunderstood in the art.

According to various embodiments, the trigger term database 403 may beconfigured to store and maintain a variety of trigger term data 430,which may generally include a plurality of terms, partial terms, andmisspellings thereof that equate to and/or are at least in some fashionassociated to items that are subject to restriction and/or prohibition,as defined by at least the restricted content data 410 of the restrictedcontent data database 401, as has been previously described herein. Inthis manner, it should be understood that, given the dynamic fluctuationof data within the database 401, a corresponding dynamic fluctuation oftrigger term data 430 must necessarily ensue according to variousembodiments. Non-limiting examples of trigger term data 430 includes“cash,” “currency,” “computer,” “stocks,” “ammunition,” “nail polish,”“nail,” “fur,” “seed,” “cigarettes,” and the like. Still furthernon-limiting examples of data 430 that may be more indirectly associatedwith the restricted content data 410 includes “weed,” “cigs,” “beer,”“white lighting,” “pumpkin,” “antler,” “cologne,” “aerosol,” “diamond,”“Rolex,” “meat,” and the like. Common misspellings may also beincorporated, such as “ammunition,” “colone,” “arosol,” and the like, aswill be described in further detail below.

As mentioned, according to various embodiments, the trigger term data430 may be periodically and/or dynamically subject to update, separatefrom or in parallel to generally corresponding updates and revisions tothe restricted content data 410. It should be appreciated that updatesof this nature may likewise originate from sources internal or externalto the common carrier shipping provider, who typically provides to anend user (e.g., customer) the system 20. In any of these embodiments,upon receipt, the database 403 will store any such received/updatedtrigger term data 430 in a manner associated with at least the datamodule 400 and for provision (whether automatically, manually, or at alater time) to at least the trigger term modules 500, as will also bedescribed in further detail below. Of course, in still otherembodiments, a variety of alternative configurations could exist, ascommonly known and understood in the art.

According to various embodiments, the shipment data database 404 may beconfigured to receive, store, and maintain shipment data 440 that maycomprise any of a variety of information associated with one or moreparameters necessary to facilitate and process a shipping request.Non-limiting examples include customer data (e.g., name, address,account number, financial/billing/payment information, etc.), recipientdata (e.g., name, address, etc.), package data (e.g., weight, size,type, etc.), and service data (e.g., type, rates, availability,selections, etc.). It should be understood that, according to variousembodiments, the shipment data database 404 may be configured toreceive, store, and maintain data from a variety of sources. Forexample, certain rate and availability data may be received from thecommon carrier service provider, while selections thereof for aparticular shipping request may be received from a user of the system20.

As a non-limiting example, best understood with reference to at leastFIG. 9, which illustrates an exemplary service selection screen display1000 of an exemplary user interface of the shipping request system 20,various portions of the shipment data 440 may be displayed via the userinterface. As illustrated, the screen display 1000 may comprise a viewportion 1010, wherein a user may “sort” available services according toone or more preference (e.g., the illustrated lowest cost versus fastestdelivery parameters). The screen display 1000 may also comprise aselection portion 1020, wherein a user may not only view variousservices (e.g., “All,” “Ground Only,” “Air Only,” etc.), but also selecta desirable service for their particular shipping request needs. As willbe described in further detail below, in certain embodiments, theparticular shipping service selected may, at least in part, influencethe activated trigger term data 430, as restrictions and/or prohibitionsupon shipping a specific item may vary depending upon the shippingmedium. For example, ammunition that might be prohibited for air transitmay simply be restricted to ten rounds per package on ground transit.Other scenarios may be envisioned wherein restrictions may varydynamically, as should be understood without departing from the scopeand nature of the present invention.

Still further, in any of these and still other embodiments, uponreceipt, the shipment data database 404 will store any such receivedshipment data 440 in a manner associated with at least the data module400 and for provision to one or more of the modules 500-600, as willalso be described in further detail below. Of course, in any of theseand still other embodiments, a variety of alternative configurationscould exist, as commonly known and understood in the art.

According to various embodiments, any of the previously describeddatabases may be configured to store and maintain not only textuallybased data, but also graphically based data, as may be generated by thetransportation network dynamic management system 20 (or otherwise) andbe based, at least in part, upon the textually based data. Still furthergraphical (e.g., charts, graphs, maps, etc.) may also be stored withinone or more of the databases, wherein such may be, at least in part,independently derived, relative to the textually based data.Non-limiting examples of such graphically based data include trendgraphs, historical plot charts, pie charts, diagrams, and the like, allas will be described in further detail elsewhere. In any event, itshould be understood that in any of these and still other embodiments,the graphically based data may be used to visually combine variousportions of data contained within the various databases previouslydescribed herein. Still further, various algorithms and/orpre-determined parameters, rules, and/or mitigating procedures may alsobe stored within the system 20, as may be desirable for variousapplications.

Summary of Exemplary System Operation

As indicated above, various embodiments of the shipping request server200 execute various modules (e.g., modules 400, 500, 600) to provide atool that dynamically identifies restricted items within customerrequests for shipping one or more packages via a common carrier serviceprovider, while also maintaining a high level of customer convenience.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the shipping request server200 begins with the execution of the data module 400, which isconfigured to receive, store, manage, and transmit restricted contentdata 410, input content data 420, trigger term data 430, and shipmentdata 440, the details of which have been described previously herein. Incertain embodiments, at least a portion of the data 410-440 is providedto the trigger term module 500 for further processing, eitherautomatically upon, for example, receipt of input content data 420 orotherwise, as may be desirable for particular applications. In at leastthe illustrated embodiment of FIG. 5, at least a portion of the shipmentdata 440 may be likewise provided to the report module 600, which may,for example, use such for finalizing an approved shipping request,either upon identification of no restricted data/items or uponresolution of any identified, as will be described in further detailbelow. Of course, it should be understood that various alternatives mayexist within the configured processes of the data module 400, all aswill be described in further detail below.

In various embodiments, the trigger term module 500 is configured toreceive various pieces of data 410-440 (at least initially, in certainembodiments, a portion of input content data 420 and/or a portion ofshipment data 440, as will be described in further detail elsewhereherein) from the data module 400 and upon receipt thereof activate atrigger term tool 510. In certain embodiments the trigger term tool 510is configured to “scrub” (i.e., compare) at least the received inputcontent data 420 against trigger term data 430 associated therewith, soas to dynamically identify matches, near-matches, and/or associationsthere-between that are indicative of a restricted and/or prohibiteditem. Upon detection thereof, the tool 510 generates restricted data512, which may comprise at least the input content data 420 and aportion of associated restricted content data 410. If no “trigger terms”are implicated in the data, the trigger term tool 510 is configuredaccording to certain embodiments to generate unrestricted data 514indicative thereof. At some point, a user of the system 20 will completetheir entry of input content data 420, at which point the trigger termtool 510 is configured according to various embodiments to require aconfirmation thereof prior to further processing a shipping request. Insuch embodiments, the trigger term tool 510 may be configured to furthergenerate confirmation data 516 indicative thereof.

In various embodiments, the report module 600 is configured to, uponreceipt of restricted data 512 activate a restriction tool 610, which isconfigured to generate one or more notifications associated with thereceipt thereof. For example, the restriction tool 610 may be configuredto generate, transmit, and/or display one or more restrictiontransmittals 612. In certain embodiments the transmittals may be alerts(whether audible, visual, textual, or otherwise), as generated whenrestricted data 512 indicative of the identification of a restricted orprohibited item is received. In certain embodiments, such may occurdynamically and/or automatically upon generation of the restricted data512, without delay for receipt of confirmation data 516, as will bedescribed in further detail below.

As may be seen from FIG. 5, the report module 600 is further configuredaccording to various embodiments to, upon receipt of any of restricteddata 512, unrestricted data 514, and/or confirmation data 516 toactivate a shipment tool 620. Where restricted data 512 has beenreceived, the shipment tool 620 may generate one or more shipmenttransmittals 622, which may be indicative of a refusal to approve theshipment request on the basis of the presence of one or more prohibitedor restricted items. In other embodiments, the transmittals 622 may beindicative of a solution reached via the system 20 to facilitateapproval of the shipping request regardless of the identification ofrestricted data, for example, by negotiating with the customer to eitherlimit or remove the restricted or prohibited item from the request.Where only unrestricted and/or confirmation data is received by thereport module 600, the shipping tool 620 may be generally configured togenerate one or more shipment transmittals 622 approving the shippingrequest. In at least one embodiment, the shipment transmittal 622 maycomprise a shipping label, generated at least in part based upon theshipment data 440 further received and/or retrieved from the data module400. Of course, various alternatives may exist, all as will be describedin further detail below.

Data Module 400

According to various embodiments, as previously mentioned herein, thedata module 400 is configured to receive, store, manage, and transmitrestricted content data 410, input content data 420, trigger term data430, and shipment data 440. Receipt may be from any of a variety ofentities (e.g., a common carrier shipment provider, users of the system20, etc.) and transmission may be to one or more of the trigger term andreport modules 500-600, as will be described in further detail below.

FIG. 6 illustrates steps that may be executed by the data module 400according to various embodiments. Beginning with step 450, the datamodule 400 assesses whether any data (e.g., data 410, 420, 430, and/or440, as illustrated in FIG. 5) has been received by the module. Incertain embodiments, the data module 400 makes this assessment byperiodically scanning one or more databases (see FIG. 4) associated withthe module and by identifying some portion of data within one or more ofthe databases that was not present during a previous periodic scan understep 450. Of course, alternative configurations may be envisioned,wherein, as a non-limiting example, the data module 400 may activelyreceive data (e.g., as input by a user of the system 20 via aninterface) and upon receipt thereof, execute step 440. In any of theseand still other various embodiments, if “newly received” data isidentified, the data module 400 proceeds to step 470; otherwise themodule proceeds into a static loop via step 455.

During step 455, the data module 400 may be configured to passivelystand by for receipt of new data, whether in the form of restrictedcontent data 410, input content data 420, trigger term data 430,shipment data 440, and the like. In certain embodiments, the module 400may, in step 455, periodically (e.g., every 5 seconds, or at anydesirable interval) proactively ping one or more databases containedtherein. Various alternative data monitoring configurations may beenvisioned, without departing the scope and nature of the presentinvention.

It should generally be understood that, according to variousembodiments, the primary types of data received during the course ofoperation will be either shipment data 440 or input content data 420. Asa non-limiting example, a user of the system 20 may access the samethrough an interface such as that illustrated in FIG. 9. Via such anexemplary service selection screen display 1000, the user could not onlychoose a display order (i.e., sorting) of shipment service option inportion 1010, but also select a desirable shipment “service that bestmeets [their] needs” in portion 1020. The user selection of a shipmentservice option in portion 1020 constitutes at least a portion ofshipment data 440 according to various embodiments. As will be describedin further detail later, upon entry of a service selection, the user maynavigate (e.g., via navigation portion 1090) to the exemplary contentselection screen display 1100 (see, for example, FIG. 10), all as willbe described in further detail below. With reference momentarily,however, for FIG. 10, it should be understood that the input contentdata 420 may be received via the exemplary content selection screendisplay 1100, specifically according to various embodiments via thecontent entry portion 1110, as will also be described in further detailbelow.

Returning to FIG. 6, upon receipt of either input content data 420and/or shipment data 440, the data module 400 proceeds to step 470,during which the data module transmits the received data to at least thetrigger term module 500 for further handling and processing. In certainembodiments, the shipment data 440 may be simultaneously or latertransmitted additionally and/or alternatively to the report module 600.It should be understood, however, that in at least the illustratedembodiment, at least the service selection portion of the shipment data440 is transmitted likewise to the trigger term module 500, as such atleast in part determines the applicable trigger term data 430 andrestricted content data 410 that is retrieved by the trigger term module500, as will also be described in further detail below.

According to various embodiments, during step 470, as previouslydescribed herein, the data module 400 is configured to transmit at leasta portion of received data to at least the trigger term module 500. Incertain embodiments, the data module 400 may be configured toautomatically perform step 470, while in other embodiments, the modulemay perform such only periodically, at an interval predetermined by oneor more users of the system 20, as may be desirable for particularapplications. In still other embodiments, the data module 400 mayautomatically transmit a portion of the data (e.g., input content data420 and/or shipment data 440), while another portion of the data (e.g.,restricted content data 410 and/or trigger term data 430) may betransmitted subsequently, for example, upon request therefor by thetrigger term module 500, as will be described in further detail below.

Trigger Term Module 500

As previously described, upon receipt and/or retrieval of any portion ofinput content data 420 and/or shipment data 440, the trigger term module500 is configured to activate a trigger term tool 510

With reference now to FIG. 7, which illustrates various steps that maybe executed by the trigger module 500, according to various embodimentsthe module is configured to begin in step 520 by receiving at least someportion of data from the data module 400. It should be understood thatin certain embodiments, the trigger term module 500 may be configured toperiodically and/or continuously proactively retrieve and/or check fornew data 410-440, as may be transmitted from the data module 400. Inother embodiments, the trigger term module 500 may merely passivelyawait receipt of data from the data module, as may be desirable forparticular applications.

According to various embodiments, data received in step 520 may compriseeither input content data 420 or shipment data 440, both of which may beentered by a user via exemplary interface screen displays 1000, 1100.With reference momentarily to FIG. 9, it should be understood that viaan exemplary display such as service selection screen display 1000, theuser may input shipment data 440 at least by selecting a desirableshipment “service that best meets [their] needs,” as illustrated inportion 1020. With reference momentarily to FIG. 10, it should also beunderstood that via an exemplary display such as content selectionscreen display 1100, the user may input content data 420 at least bytyping one or more terms descriptive of the items for which they areentering a shipping request. Such user interface screens and such willbe further described elsewhere herein, but provide useful context andwill also be periodically referenced throughout the remainder of thedescription surrounding the steps executed by the trigger module 500.

Returning now to FIG. 7, upon completion of step 520, the trigger termmodule 500 is configured according to various embodiments to proceed tostep 525, during which the module assesses whether the data receivedcomprises input content data 420 or shipment data 440, the entry ofwhich as has been previously described herein. If the data comprisesshipment data 440, the trigger term module 500 is configured accordingto various embodiments to proceed to step 530; otherwise, the moduleproceeds alternatively to step 550.

During step 530, the trigger term module 500 is configured according tovarious embodiments to retrieve at least a portion of the restrictedcontent data 410 located in one or more databases within the data module400. In certain embodiments, the scope of retrieval is based at least inpart upon the nature of the shipment data 440. For example, where theshipment data 440 comprises a ground transportation selection, certainportions of the restricted content data 410 applicable only to airtransportation would not be retrieved in step 530. In this manner, theretrieval and display of restricted content data 410 (see also FIG. 10)is specifically tailored based at least in part upon the serviceselection entered by a user as a portion of the shipment data 440.

As should be evident from FIG. 7, in certain embodiments, the triggerterm module 500 is configured in step 530 to further display acategorical overview panel 1200 in connection with retrieval of thedescribed relevant portion of restricted content data 410. FIG. 10proves informative in this regard, wherein the categorical overviewpanel 1200 may be seen, as may be embedded according to variousembodiments within the content selection screen display 1100. In thismanner, in certain embodiments, upon entry of shipment service selectiondata 440, the panel 1200 provides users with a “browsing” capability, soas to review various applicable and/or relevant restrictive orprohibited item categories, presumably prior to entry of specificcontent data, as will be described in further detail elsewhere herein.As FIG. 10 illustrates, the panel 1200 may comprise a plurality of itemsummary blocks 1210, within which additional or “more information” maybe requested (see 1220).

With combined reference to FIGS. 7 and 10, upon display of thecategorical overview panel 1200 in step 530, the trigger term module 500may be configured according to further embodiments to proceed to step535, where it is queried whether a user of the panel is requestingcategorical details (i.e., “more information,” as illustrated as 1220).If categorical details are requested, the trigger term module 500 may,in certain embodiments proceed to step 545, wherein a categorical detailpanel 1300 (see FIG. 12) may be displayed. As will be describedelsewhere herein, the detail panel 1300 may provide extensive details ofwhat may and may not be shipped according to location, service type, orother parameters. Of course, in other embodiments, the trigger termmodule 500 may be configured such that in step 545 a “pop-up” window1225 (see FIGS. 10 & 11) first appears with detailed information, fromwhich a user may request still further detail (See FIG. 11, item 1228),after which the detail panel 1300 would appear. Still other alternativedisplay configurations may, indeed, be envisioned, without departingfrom the scope and nature of the present invention.

Returning specifically, however, to FIG. 7, it should be understood thatduring step 545, the trigger term module 500 is configured according tovarious embodiments to provide some degree of further detail for a userthat explains the “how/why/when” of a particular regulation behind acategorical restriction and/or prohibition. As a non-limiting example,if “more information” is requested regarding dangerous goods 416 (seeFIG. 11), a pop-up window 1225 may explain that “[y]our package cannotcontain any dangerous goods or hazardous materials, such as aerosolsprays, airbags, butane, batteries, cologne, dry ice, fireworks,gasoline, lighters, matches, nail polish, nail polish remover,nitrogen.” Additional details on batteries may be requested at 1228,prompting the display of panel 1300 of FIG. 12. In this manner, itshould be understood that the various detail panels and windows areconfigured according to various embodiments to provide a degree ofguidance to users not otherwise available via only the categoricaloverview panel 1200 or otherwise. As such, the detail panel 1300provides a significant improvement over prior systems, especially withregard to its contribution to the accuracy and consistency ofidentifying prohibited and/or restricted items for which shipment isrequested.

If no categorical detail is requested in step 535 of FIG. 7, the triggerterm module 500 is configured to proceed to step 540, wherein the modulequeries whether entry of data (e.g., shipment data 440 and moreparticularly content data 420) is complete. If so, the module 500proceeds to step 590 to confirm completion of data input, as will bedescribed in further detail later. If data entry is not complete, thetrigger term module 500 is configured according to various embodimentsto proceed to step 542, wherein it awaits (either passively orotherwise) receipt of additional data, which will be identified via aniterative loop with step 520, as previously described herein.

Returning now to step 525, wherein the trigger term module 500determines whether input content data 420 or shipment data 440 wasreceived via step 520, having already described herein if data 440 isinvolved, if alternatively input content data 420 is involved, themodule 500 is configured to proceed instead to step 550. During step550, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the trigger term module 500 is configuredto execute a trigger term tool 510 (see also FIG. 5). As an initialmatter, execution of the trigger term tool 510 involves furtherretrieval (see step 552) by the module of trigger term data 430, ascontained within the data module 400. With the input content data 420and the trigger term data 430 retrieved during step 552, the triggerterm module 500 proceeds to step 555, wherein the tool 510 is configuredaccording to various embodiments to determine whether one or more“trigger terms” are identified within the input content data. Such maybe determined by executing any of a variety of algorithms, such as thenon-limiting example of a character check-sum that compares entered datato stored data on a keystroke by keystroke basis. Of course, any of avariety of commonly known and understood data comparison and/or“scrubbing” algorithms may be employed, as such are commonly known andunderstood to exist in the art.

Notwithstanding, the tool 510 is configured in step 555, generallyspeaking, to “scrub” the entered input content data 420 against one ormore “terms” within the trigger term data 430 for purposes ofidentifying matches, near-matches, and/or associations there-between. Incertain embodiments, the tool 510 may perform a dynamic scrub, whereby acomparison is run between the data 420 & 430 in a real-time fashion, asa user of the system 20 enters data on a keystroke by keystroke basis.Such may be understood with reference to FIGS. 15 & 16, wherein typingof “cash” results in a match to a restricted category of money andnegotiable items 418 (see also FIG. 11), but further typing transforming“cash” into “cashmere sweater” eliminates the match and thus anyassociated display of restricted data 512, as described momentarilybelow. The exemplary display screens and the exemplary operation thereofwill be described in further detail elsewhere herein.

As mentioned, with reference again to FIG. 7, if the trigger term tool510, during the process of “scrubbing” or comparing the input contentdata 420 in a dynamic fashion against associated trigger term data 430,implicates one or more “trigger terms” (whether via a direct match, anear-match, a common misspelling therefor, an indirect categoricalassociation therewith, or the like), the trigger term module 500 may beconfigured according to various embodiments to generate restricted data512. In certain embodiments, the restricted data 512 may comprise atleast some annotation associated with or adhered to at least theimplicated portion of the input content data 420, along with at least anindication of the implicated “trigger term.” In certain embodiments, theannotation may itself be a marker associated with the data that mayinherently identify the implicated “trigger term.” Of course, a varietyof possible configurations for annotating restricted data 512 may beenvisioned, without departing from the scope and nature of the presentinvention.

In any event, once restricted data 512 is generated in step 565, atleast two things occur according to certain embodiments, although in atleast one embodiment, they may occur sequentially. First, the triggerterm module 500 may be configured according to various embodiments to,via step 570, transmit at least the restricted data 512, or in certainembodiments an indication or notification thereof to the report module600, which, from such, may be configured to generate one or more reportsfor relatively immediate transmittal to one or more users of the system.In certain embodiments, such users of the system may include not onlythe user submitting the request, but also other personnel, for example,those monitoring and/or populating an associated help desk center, aswill be described in further detail elsewhere herein. An exemplary alertor report, as may be generated by the report module 600 via execution ofstep 570 (and other steps, to be described later herein) may be seen asitem 1410 of FIG. 15. It should be understood, however, that in any ofthese and still other embodiments, the transmission of data in step 570is configured such that at least an alert message is provided to a userof the system 20 substantially simultaneously with execution of step 565and 575, at least during the latter of which a trigger term panel 1400is displayed, as will be described in further detail below.

Next, returning momentarily to FIG. 7, the trigger term module 500 maybe configured according to various embodiments to, in step 575, retrieveat least a portion of restricted content data 410 (e.g., that restrictedcontent data associated with at least the implicated trigger term) andto display at least such, alongside portions of the trigger term data430 and/or portions of the input content data 420 via a trigger termpanel 1400 such as the exemplary one of FIG. 15. Indeed, with particularreference to FIG. 15, input content data 420 is illustrated in entryportion 1110, whereas restricted data 512 is illustrated in at leastcertain portions of the trigger term panel 1400, for example identifyingthe implicated term or terms (e.g., laptop and cash), related categoriestherefor (e.g., batteries, money, and negotiable items), and/or a briefdescription thereof (see fields 1420, 1430). Such fields and exemplarydisplay features will be described in further detail elsewhere herein.

With continued reference to FIG. 15, but returning also to FIG. 7, itshould be understood that upon completion of step 575, the trigger termmodule 500 may be configured to proceed to step 580, wherein the moduledetermines whether a user of the system is continuing to input morecontent data 420 (e.g., via field 1110 of display 1100). If so, themodule 500 reverts to steps 550 and 555, wherein the trigger term tool510 is configured to continue, according to various embodiments, todynamically “scrub” the data, as such is entered. In at least oneembodiment, as has been referenced elsewhere herein, data may be“scrubbed” on a character-by-character basis, in a real-time fashion asuser keystrokes occur. Of course, less robust configurations may beenvisioned, without departing from the scope and nature of the presentinvention, provided such maintain a dynamic comparison of entered inputcontent data 420 relative to trigger term data 430 contained within thedata module 400.

If, in step 580, the trigger term module 500 determines that entry ofinput content data 420 has at least momentarily halted, the moduleproceeds to step 585, wherein it is queried whether a user of the system20 has requested categorical detail, possibly regarding some portion ofpreviously entered content data 420 and/or restricted content data 410received and displayed, for example during step 575. If categoricaldetail has been requested, the module 500 may, according to certainembodiments, revert to step 545, as previously described herein,displaying a categorical detail panel 1300 or an analogous “pop-up”window, each as may provide additional detailed information for the userconcerning the manner in which the entered content data 420 implicatesone or more trigger terms with data 430.

Remaining with step 585 momentarily, it should further be understoodthat, according to various embodiments, the trigger term module 500 maybe additionally and/or alternatively configured to prompt the user toanswer one or more questions regarding some portion of categoricaldetail data, as may be defined within at least the restricted contentdata 410. In this manner, the trigger term module and accompanyingsystem may be configured to internally and proactively seek to remedyand/or mitigate the “triggering” of term data 430 and the generation ofrestricted data 512. As will be described in further detail later, whereinternal, automated mitigation, for example via a question and answerformat is possible and where such alleviates the “trigger,” such maymaintain the efficiency and convenience of the shipping request tool,without sacrificing consistency and/or safety. Alternative “question andanswer” formats may be envisioned, as commonly known and understood inthe art, without departing from the scope and nature of the presentinvention, provided such are configured to generally collect additionalinformation from a user of the system for the purpose of removing agenerated “trigger.”

Of course, if during steps 580 and 585, the trigger term module 500determines according to various embodiments that no input content data420 has been received for at least a certain period of time (which maybe pre-determined according to any of a variety of parameters, as may bedesirable for particular applications) and that no categorical detailhas been requested by the user of the system 20, the module isconfigured to proceed to step 590. During step 590, as is illustrated inFIG. 7, the module 500 seeks confirmation from a user that entry ofinput content data 420 is indeed complete, preventing not onlyinadvertent confirmation when a customer or user has merely pausedentry, but also inadvertent approval and/or further processing of theshipping request without ensuring that any and all restricted data 512has been captured and appropriately processed. In this manner, it shouldbe understood that the “confirmation process,” an exemplaryimplementation of which may be seen in at least box 1150 of FIG. 10,ensures that prohibited or restricted items aren't inadvertentlyshipped, subjecting not only the user but also the common carrierservice provider to fines and/or civil penalties. Although box 1150illustrates a confirmation that “no prohibited items exist in thispackage,” alternative confirmations could be envisioned, such thatscenarios in which exceptions have been made and/or processed by thesystem, typically with external assistance from a carrier help deskfacility and personnel, as will be described elsewhere herein.

In any event, in any of these and still other embodiments, if aconfirmation that no prohibited, restricted, or otherwise unapproveditems are in a particular package shipping request, the trigger termmodule 500 is configured to proceed to step 592, during whichconfirmation data 516 is generated. The confirmation data 516 isgenerally data indicative of and/or containing within at least a portionof the confirmation received in step 590. Of course, a variety ofconfigurations of confirmation data 516 may be envisioned withoutdeparting the scope and nature of the present invention, provided suchis generally configured to ensure an express and proactive (versuspassive) approval of the shipping request. As will be describedelsewhere herein with respect to the exemplary user interface displayscreens, in at least some embodiments, receipt of a confirmation and/orgeneration of confirmation data 516 may be a prerequisite for furtherprocessing of a particular shipping request, as may also be understoodfrom at least FIG. 10.

Returning now to FIG. 7, upon receipt of a confirmation in step 590 andgeneration of confirmation data 516 in step 592, the trigger term module500 is configured according to various embodiments to proceed to step595, wherein at least the confirmation data 516 is transmitted to thereport module 600. In certain embodiments, as may be understood fromFIG. 5, various portions of the shipment data 440 and/or the restricteddata 512, which may itself include further portions of the restrictedcontent data 410, the input content data 420, and the trigger term data430 may likewise be transmitted via step 595 to the report module. Ofcourse, it should be understood that in other embodiments, onlyindications of such additionally relevant or pertinent data, ascontained within the data module 400 may be transmitted via 595, leavingthe report module 600 to further retrieve such data directly from thedata module, as may be desirable for certain applications.

Reverting momentarily to step 555 of FIG. 7, as executed by the triggerterm module 500, if contrary to as has been described previously hereinwith the module identifying one or more implicated trigger terms andproceeding via step 565, where no trigger terms are implicated basedupon the presently entered input content data 420, the module isconfigured according to various embodiments to proceed instead to step560. During step 560, the module 500 and in particular the tool 510therein is configured to generate unrestricted data 514, which may benothing more than an indication and/or annotation of the entered contentdata 420 as not having any prohibited or restricted items associatedtherewith.

Upon generation of unrestricted data 514 in step 560 in this manner, thetrigger term module 500 may be configured according to variousembodiments to proceed to step 562, during which the module querieswhether entry of data (e.g., content data 420) is complete. If so, themodule 500 may be configured to proceed to step 590, during and afterwhich the confirmation processes (see also steps 592 and 595) occur, aspreviously described herein. If not, the module 500 is configured toproceed instead to step 542, also as previously described herein,whereby the module awaits receipt of additional data entry, whether thatbe further input content data 420 (in which case the trigger term tool510 would be configured according to various embodiments to dynamicallyand/or iteratively “scrub” entered terms against trigger terms) orshipment data 440 (in which case the “browsing” or categorical overviewpanel 1200 may be provided to a user, as may be desirable for particularapplications).

In any of these and still other embodiments, it should, however, beunderstood that the trigger term module 500 and the trigger term tool510 contained therein provides two interrelated features, namely a“browsing” capability, wherein users may assess whether what they maydesire to ship could potentially implicate one or more categories ofitems, via an exemplary categorical overview panel 1200 (see FIG. 10),and a “scrubbing” capability, wherein users may receive a dynamicallyupdated indication of whether entered text, describing the content ofdesired shipments, implicates one or more terms associated (directlyand/or indirectly) with restricted and/or prohibited items. In thismanner, the trigger term module 500 and the automated tool 510 containedtherein provide an improved shipping request system 20 that ensures thatprohibited and/or restricted items in packages for which shipment issought are consistently, efficiently, and accurately identified anddealt with, without unduly sacrificing customer convenience, service,and/or safety.

Report Module 600

With reference to FIG. 8, according to various embodiments, the reportmodule 600 is configured to generally receive various types of data fromeither the data module 400 or the trigger term module 500 and performfurther processing steps based thereon. Beginning with step 630, thereport module 600 may be configured to query whether any items of data(e.g., restricted data 512, unrestricted data 514, and/or confirmationdata 516, any of which may further comprise portions of restrictedcontent data 410, input content data 420, trigger term data 430, and/orshipment data 440) have been received by the report module. If no datahas been received, the report module 600 is configured according tovarious embodiments to proceed to step 635, wherein the module stands byto receive one or more pieces of data. In certain embodiments, thereport module 600 may simply passively await receipt of data during step635, while in other embodiments, the report module 600 may at leastperiodically (e.g., as pre-determined by one or more users of the system20) actively query one or more of the modules 400-500 for data, as maybe desirable for particular applications. Of course, any of a variety ofdata calling and/or transmission configurations may be envisioned,without departing from the scope and nature of the present invention.

Remaining with FIG. 8, upon receipt of data in step 630, variousembodiments of the report module 600 are configured to proceed to step640, during which the specific type of data received is determined. Ifrestricted data 512 is identified within step 650, the module 600 isconfigured according to various embodiments to, in step 654 execute arestriction tool 610. In certain embodiments, the restriction tool 610is configured to generate one or more restriction transmittals 612,which are based at least in part upon receipt of the restricted data512. The restriction transmittals 612 may take any of a variety offorms, including the non-limiting examples of reports, notifications(e.g., via email, text, or otherwise), and/or alerts (e.g., audible,textual, graphical, visual, or otherwise), each as may be desirable forparticular application. An exemplary, non-limiting example of arestriction transmittal 612 may be seen in FIG. 15, wherein field 1410indicates a textual alert that “[t]he entered description may indicatethe presence of prohibited items,” as generated upon user entry of inputcontent data 420 comprising the terms “laptop” and “cash.” Suchexemplary user interfaces and displays will be described in furtherdetail elsewhere herein.

Returning to FIG. 8, if during execution of step 640, the report moduledetermines that unrestricted data 514 has been received (see step 660),the module 600 is configured to proceed to step 680, wherein the moduleexecutes a shipment tool 620. As may be best understood, whereunrestricted data 514 is received, such is indicative that no prohibiteditems were identified within the package for which shipment isrequested. In certain embodiments, for example, those not requiringfurther confirmation data, as may be desirable for certain applications,the unrestricted data 514 may be used by the report module 600 as abasis for generating one or more shipment transmittals 622 via theshipment tool 620 (see step 690). Of course, in certain embodiments,although unrestricted data 514 may be indicative of an absence ofprohibited and/or restricted items in and of itself, the shipment tool620 may be configured to further await receipt of confirmation data 516prior to permitting continued processing of the shipment request towardapproval, as will be described in further detail below.

Indeed, if during execution of step 640, the report module determinesthat confirmation data 516 has been received (see step 670), it maylikewise be configured to proceed to execute shipment tool 620. Itshould be understood that confirmation data 516 may accompany eitherunrestricted data 514 or restricted data 512, as has been previouslydescribed herein, and as such the restriction transmittals 612 of step658 should be considered “preliminary alerts” of a sense, whereasexecution of the shipment tool 620 occurs at some point thereafter,generally according to certain embodiments once entry of input contentdata 420 is complete and/or a confirmation thereof, along with anyassociated confirmation data 516, as may be generated by the triggerterm module 500 has been received at the report module 600. In thismanner, in at least some embodiments (see, for example FIG. 5), therestriction tool 610 and the shipment tool 620 may be executedsequentially; of course, in other embodiments (see, for example, FIG.8), their execution may be generally distinct.

With continued reference to FIG. 8 and still further to FIGS. 21 and 22,it should be understood that according to various embodiments, theshipment transmittals 622 may comprise any of a variety of reports,charts, alerts, notifications, and/or user interface displays that maybe associated with and/or indicative of a finalization of the shippingrequest initiated by a user of the system 20. FIG. 21 illustrates anexemplary review and finalization screen display 1500, which maycomprise at least a portion of the shipment transmittals 622 generatedby the shipment tool 620. As will be described elsewhere herein, a usermay, via display 1500 ensure that all selected parameters are accurateand complete, prior to navigating to a display, such as the exemplaryreporting screen display 1600 of FIG. 22.

It should be understood that any of a variety of features and/orcomponents may be generated, as within the scope of the shipmenttransmittals 622 of FIG. 8. Indeed, as a non-limiting example, thetransmittals 622 may include generation and provision to a user of apopulated shipping label, based at least in part upon the shipment data440 and the input content data 420 processed by the system 20. In atleast one embodiment, the shipping label may include further indicia ofconfirmation data 516, providing assurances that the shipment has beenassessed with the improved trigger term tool 510 and associated system20, as described herein-throughout.

Exemplary User Interface(s) & Methods of Using the Same

Turning now to FIGS. 9-22, such illustrate various exemplary userinterface screen displays that may be generated by the system 20 and itsassociated modules 400-600 during execution of various ones of the stepspreviously described herein. These exemplary user interface screendisplays will now be described, in turn, with reference to anon-limiting example, wherein a customer named Caroline turns to thesystem 20 for submittal and handling of a shipping request for transportof a package via a large scale transportation network.

With reference to FIG. 9, which is a view of an exemplary serviceselection screen display 1000 of an exemplary user interface of theshipping request system 20 according to various embodiments, it shouldbe understood that upon accessing the system, Caroline may be firstpresented with the display 1000 for purposes of collecting certainpieces of shipment data 440. In certain embodiments, certain portions ofshipment data 440, such as service type, may determine, at least inpart, those restrictions to which the package contents are subjected.Caroline is offered, via field portion 1010 the ability to sort theavailable service options based upon one or more preferences that mightbest mirror her shipping parameters, for example sorting by fastestdelivery, considering she would like the package shipped no later thanOctober 3.

Remaining with FIG. 9, an exemplary service selection field 1020 may bepopulated with additional portions of shipment data 440 that may becontained with the data module 400, namely those portions populated by,for example, a common carrier shipment provider associated with thesystem 20. Various options available from the provider may be displayedin the service selection field 1020, which may be a scrollable panel,depending upon the number of service options available. In thecontinuing non-limiting example, with Caroline desiring delivery nolater than October 3, any of the first four options displayed in FIG. 9would be acceptable.

Upon selection of, for example, the 2^(nd) Day Air option, guaranteeingdelivery by October 3 for $43.26, Caroline may navigate forward via theone or more navigation buttons (e.g., back, next, and the like) locatedin a navigation portion 1090 of the exemplary screen display 1000. Suchnavigation fields are commonly known and understood in the art and assuch, will not be described in further detail for purposes of thepresent invention. In related vein, it should be further understood fromFIG. 9 that Caroline may access assistance via a “Help” menu 1080, whichmay entail an integrated “Help Tool” within the system 20, an externalcommon carrier provider populated Help Center, a combination thereof,and the like, as is also generally understood in the art of providingcustomer/user interfaces for service-related applications and softwaretools.

Upon selection of a particular service option on screen display 1000,the system may be configured to display the exemplary content selectionscreen display 1100 of FIG. 10. For example, once Caroline selects2^(nd) Day Air transport of her package(s), the display 1100 may appearfor her review, according to various embodiments. As may be seen fromFIG. 10, the display 1100 may include a data entry field 1110, acategorical overview panel 1200, a help link 1180, a navigation portion1190, and a confirmation portion 1150. Generally speaking, Caroline mayenter input content data 420, as previously described herein to includedescriptive terms associated with the contents or items for whichshipment is sought. Prior to entry of such, however, in certainembodiments, the categorical overview panel 1200 may provide a“browsing” capability, whereby Caroline may peruse various categoricalrestriction fields 1210, as may be applicable based at least in partupon her service option selection. For example, as may be seen from FIG.11, the firearms and ammunition 419 category may be implicated due to“air transport,” whereas had ground transport been selected, such maynot have been or may have been differently implicated and thusdisplayed.

Returning to FIG. 10, it may be seen that by browsing the categoricaloverview panel 1200, Caroline may review a plurality of categoricalrestrictions. Although nine categories are displayed in the illustratedembodiment, it should be understood that additional categories may existand be available for display, via for example a scrolling bar 1250, assuch is commonly known and understood in the art. Should Caroline desireadditional information concerning a particular category, for example onthe shipment of alcoholic beverages 411, she may, in certainembodiments, click on a “More Information” link 1220, in response towhich a new window, in pop-up style or otherwise, may appear (see 1225of FIGS. 10 and 11).

Consider a handful of non-limiting examples. With reference specificallyto FIG. 10, Caroline may want to ship a bottle of wine to her sisterCatherine and learn that no alcoholic beverages, including wine, beer,and liquor may be shipped. With reference momentarily to FIG. 11, shouldCaroline desire alternatively to ship fireworks to her brother Patrick,the system may inform her that such is not permitted. If insteadCaroline wishes to send her old laptop as a gift to her other sisterVictoria, she would learn from browsing that batteries might berestricted in some manner, whereby according to certain embodiments, shecould be presented with an additional “More Information” link 1228,which would direct her to a categorical detail display 1300, aspreviously described herein. FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplarycategorical detail display 1300, with distinct fields therein providingdetails for what “You may Not Ship” 1310, what “You May Ship” 1320, andstill further link(s) to “Complete Guide(s)” 1330 for the particulardetail requested. It should be understood that the categorical detaildisplay 1300 may further include an option for requesting help, forexample via an externally staffed help center, perhaps provided by thecommon carrier shipment provider, via which Caroline may also seekassistance and/or guidance. Still further, the fields 1310, 1320 mayfurther include both textual and graphical guidance features, as may beseen in FIG. 12. A navigation portion 1390 may also be provided, whichin at least the illustrated embodiment comprises a “Done” button, whichCaroline may select upon completion of her review of the screen 1300.

Turning now to FIG. 13, it should be understood that the “browsing”capability of the categorical overview panel 1200, as previouslydescribed herein, may generally precede entry of input content data 420.Of course, as should be understood from field 1170 of FIG. 19, thecategorical overview panel 1200 may be viewed via a “toggle” featureaccording to certain embodiments, whereby even upon entry of inputcontent data 420, Caroline may “toggle” between views of either thecategorical overview panel 1200 or the trigger term panel 1400, as willbe described further below.

Remaining with FIG. 13, several safeguards within various embodiments ofthe system 20 may be understood. Particularly, at least the “Next”button of the navigator portion 1190 may be disabled prior to entry ofinput content data 420 and selection of a confirmation box 1150, whichmay be configured according to various embodiments to generate theconfirmation data 516, as previously described herein. In this manner,the trigger term tool 510 of the system 20 ensures that no shippingrequests are inadvertently approved and/or further processed without atleast a descriptive entry of contents and confirmation that noprohibited or restricted items are in the package for shipment.

Turning now to FIG. 14, continuing with our non-limiting example,whereby as Caroline begins entry of input content data 420 in field1110, the display 1100 changes from the categorical overview panel 1200to the trigger term panel 1400, as one or more trigger terms are“triggered.” In at least the illustrated scenario, upon entry byCaroline of the term “laptop,” the trigger term panel 1400 appearsaccording to certain embodiments, with prepopulated fields associatedwith restrictions and/or prohibitions that are implicated simply byentry of the term “laptop.” As may be seen, in field 1420 anycombination of textual and/or graphical data may be displayed, includingone or more links 1425 that may provide “More Information” shouldCaroline need such. Such links 1425 may be substantially comparable tothose previously described herein (see, for example, link 1220 of atleast FIG. 11). Caroline may be additionally and/or alternativelyprompted by the system to answer one or more questions regarding theentered input content data 420, with the goal being to internally andautomatically (e.g., via the system) mitigate any issues and/oreliminate the “triggered” term. For example, the system may beconfigured to prompt, where the term “battery” has not itself beentextually entered to ask if the batteries within the device describedwill be removed prior to shipment (e.g., “Will the laptop batteries beremoved prior to shipment?”). If so, the trigger/alert may be resolvedand/or removed. If not and such and/or additional questions proveunsuccessful or leave a certain degree of (perhaps predetermined)uncertainty of lack of clarity, external help, as previously describedherein may also be provided and/or requested, for example via link 1180,prior to finalization and approval of the shipping request. In certainembodiment, a text field 1240 may be provided in association with thecategorical overview display panel 1200 indicating the availability ofassistance; in at least one embodiment, the field 1240 may provide adisclaimer that the illustrated listing is not a comprehensive listing,but just a general guide (see specifically FIG. 10).

Returning now to FIG. 14, it should also be understood that upon entryof the term “laptop,” the system 20 according to various embodiments mayfurther generate one or more alerts in field 1410, notifying Carolinethat “[t]he entered description may indicate the presence of prohibiteditems.” One or more additional alerts and/or notifications may also beprovided to personnel monitoring the entry of data upon the system 20,as should generally be understood with reference to step 570 of FIG. 7and further operation of the report module 600 in FIG. 8, all as hasbeen previously described herein. Further described by FIG. 14, itshould be understood that the one or more alerts, notifications, and thelike, generated (automatically or otherwise) upon entry of texttriggering a “trigger term” within the data module 400, a user such asCaroline may receive not only the visual indicator in field 1410 butalso an audible chime. Additional and/or alternative “alert” or alarmconfigurations may be envisioned, without departing from the scope andnature of the present invention.

Turning now to FIGS. 15 and 16 in conjunction, Caroline's continuedentry of input content data 420 in field 1110 illustrates the manner inwhich the trigger term tool 510 of the trigger term module 500(described previously herein) dynamically monitors the entry of data to“scrub” for potentially prohibited and/or restricted items. FIG. 15 inparticular indicates the generation of an additional alert in field 1410as the term “cash” in field 1110 implicates the category of money andnegotiable items 418 (see also FIG. 13). As may be understood from thisFigure, multiple “implicated term” fields 1420, 1430 may be generated ina dynamic fashion based upon text entered in field 1110. In certainembodiments, the dynamic monitoring may be on a keystroke basis, whereinentry of “ca” even could implicate the money and negotiable termcategory. In other embodiments, entry of “c” could dynamically implicatemoney and negotiable terms (e.g., cash) while also implicating dangerousgoods (cologne—see FIG. 11), whereupon after entry of “ca” theimplication of dangerous goods would be removed (i.e., field 1430 or acomparable field would be removed from display panel 1400.

This may be further understood with reference to FIG. 16, as compared toFIG. 15. As mentioned, entry of “cash” in field 1110 implicated therelated category “money and negotiable items.” However, should Carolinecontinue typing beyond “cash” to describe in field 1110 a “cashmeresweater,” the implication of the term “cash” and/or its related categorywould be removed from panel 1400. This dynamic monitoring, achieved viathe automated trigger term tool 510 monitors not only keystroke entries,but in certain embodiments may also measure Caroline's typing speed,such that the speed of updates to the display panel 1400 are adjusted tocorrespond substantially therewith accordingly.

Turning now to FIG. 17 and continuing with our non-limiting example, wecan see how further to entering her desired shipment of a cashmeresweater to her mother Sarah, Caroline has further described a desiredshipment of nail polish to her grandma Cathy. However, as may be seen intrigger term panel 1400, the system 20 according to various embodimentsgenerates an alert in field 1410 (textual and/or audible, or otherwise)that an additional trigger term “nail polish” has been implicated. Field1440 describes this additionally implicated parameter, much as describedin fields 1420 and 1430 where the terms laptop (related to batteries andthus dangerous goods 416) and cash (related to money and negotiableterms 418). As may be seen, general descriptive information is provided;however, according to various embodiments, Caroline may be further ableto “toggle” between views of the trigger term panel 1400 with itsvarious alerts and notices to the categorical overview panel 1200. Suchmay be possible via the exemplary “toggle” button 1170, although incertain embodiments, certain portions of the fields 1420-1440 may bethemselves selectable, thus enabling a “toggling” between them and, forexample, associated categorical details within panel 1300. Any of avariety of interrelated screens and links may of course be envisioned,as such are commonly known and understood in the art.

With reference to FIG. 18, it should be understood that even upon“toggling” to views or displays other than the trigger term panel 1400,Caroline and/or other exemplary users may continue to enter inputcontent data 420 in field 1110. The field 1110 may be further erased orcleared, whether via use of a “Backspace” button on the keyboard of anassociated device or via button 1160. In certain embodiments, ifadditional terms are “triggered,” the system 20 may be configured toautomatically toggle back to the panel 1400. In other embodiments, atextual, visual, audible, or other variation of an alert message may bedisplayed, in response to which Caroline may, as the user, return toggleback to the panel 1400 to further assess various information andparameters surrounding the newly implicated trigger term(s).

Using FIG. 19 as an example, should Caroline further enter the term“amunition,” the display panel 1400 could according to variousembodiments reappear, further populated with related category data 1450concerning “firearms and ammunition” 419 (see FIG. 18), as may beimplicated by entry of the term “amunition” 1452 (see FIG. 20). Itshould be understood in this regard, that beyond identifying matchesbetween terms and categorical items, various embodiment are furtherconfigured to identify related item terms and still further commonmisspellings thereof. In this manner, the trigger term tool 510 providesan improved degree of consistency and accuracy, greatly diminishing theoccurrence of inadvertent and/or erroneous processed and approvedshipments containing prohibited and/or restricted items.

Turning now to FIG. 20, as previously mentioned herein, varioussafeguards exist within the system 20 such that further processingand/or approval of a shipping request may not continue until inputcontent data 420 is entered in field 1110 and box 1150 is checked toconfirm that there are no prohibited items in the request, which in turngenerates confirmation data 516 associated therewith, as previouslydescribed herein. In certain embodiments, only after these two stepshave been completed will the system 20 permit further processing by thereport module 600, which may include finalization of the shippingrequest, perhaps even generating a shipping label for the desiredpackage. In at least the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 20, the “Next”button 1192 within the navigation portion 1190 of the display 1100 mayonly be activated (and thus selectable) upon entry of data in field 1110and checking of confirmation box 1150 by the user (see also FIG. 19, forillustration of the deactivated “Next” button).

Indeed, with brief reference to FIGS. 21 and 22, it should be understoodthat upon Caroline confirming that her entry of input content data 420was complete and that there were no prohibited items within her shipment(whether attained by not entering any triggered terms and/or by removingtriggered term items when so prompted), the system 20 may proceed todisplay a review and finalization screen display 1500, whereby thereport module 600 may be configured to retrieve additional shipment data440 from the data module 400 for display and confirmation of accuracyand completeness. Payment information may also be processed, withcompletion of the shipping request, as illustrated in FIG. 22, occurringupon confirmation of payment on screen display 1600.

In certain embodiments, as evident from FIG. 22, the reporting screendisplay 1600 may further indicate that an associated shipping label isbeing printed in accordance with the shipping request. Additionalinstructions may also be provided on this reporting screen, as may bedesirable and/or necessary for particular applications. Of course, incertain embodiments, any of a variety of additional alerts,notification, and/or reports may be generated in conjunction withdisplay of screen display 1600, whether via mail, email, text, orotherwise, all as should generally be commonly known and understood inthe art for finalizing and documenting a financial transaction enteredbetween a service provider and an exemplary customer.

With regard to the shipping label being printed in accordance withfinalizing and further processing the shipping request, it should befurther understood that the label may contain one or more indicatorsthereon that it has been processed via the system described elsewhereherein. For example, in at least one embodiment, the label may statethat “No prohibited items were identified during the processing of thispackage for shipment.” In other embodiments, any of a variety ofindicia, whether human- or machine-readable in form, may be envisioned,as such are commonly known and understood in the art.

CONCLUSION

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which thisinvention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. A shipping request system comprising a userinterface that dynamically displays, in response to input content data,one or more restricted items potentially identified within shippingrequests for transport of one or more packages via a common carrierservice provider, said system comprising: one or more memory storageareas containing restricted content data that identifies restricteditems associated with one or more restrictions placed upon contents ofpackage shipments handled by said common carrier service provider, andtrigger data associated with one or more terms related to said one ormore restrictions, wherein the trigger data comprises correlationsbetween content data and trigger data indicative of the restricteditems; and one or more computer processors configured to: provide withina first input interface window an input content data portion thatreceives user input content data; provide within the user interface atrigger term panel configured to dynamically display a portion of therestricted items; (A) receive, via the first input interface window andfrom a user of said shipping request system, input content datacomprising one or more terms descriptive of one or more items for whichshipment is requested via said common carrier service provider; (B)retrieve said trigger data from said one or more memory storage areas;(C) dynamically scrub, on an individual keystroke basis, said inputcontent data against said retrieved trigger data to identify one or morecorrelations there-between, said one or more correlations beingindicative of a potential presence of one or more restricted items; (D)based at least in part upon said dynamic scrubbing and further: i.responsive to said one or more identified correlations directly matchingand identifying one or more restricted items, automatically anddynamically generate and automatically and dynamically update, via thetrigger term panel, a consolidated display of selectable informationrelated to said one or more identified correlations and identifying saidone or more restricted items wherein said selectable information of saidconsolidated display is automatically updated at a rate complementary toa measured rate at which said input content data is being received onsaid individual keystroke basis, wherein said selectable informationcomprises a textual and graphical identification of said one or morerestricted items, an identification of one or more categories of itemsrelated to said one or more restricted items, and a brief description ofone or more restrictions placed upon said one or more restricted items,wherein said selectable information is all generated and updated on saidtrigger term panel alongside said input content data and viewable bysaid user of said shipping request system during ongoing entry of saidinput content data on said individual keystroke basis; and ii.responsive to said one or more identified correlations not directlymatching or identifying said one or more restricted items, automaticallyand dynamically generate, in the first input interface window, aquery-based prompt requiring user input prior to receipt of furtherinput content data on said individual keystroke basis; (E) responsive toan interactive user selection of a portion of said displayed selectableinformation associated with said one or more restricted items or receiptof an interactive user input responsive to the query-based prompt,whereby the user selection or the user input directly matches andidentifies said one or more restricted items: i. generate one or morenotifications indicative of potential presence of one or more restricteditems within said shipping request, said one or more notifications beingconfigured to prompt additional user confirmation, via the first inputinterface window, that no restricted items are actually present and toprevent further processing of said shipment request pending said userconfirmation; ii. in response to receiving said additional userconfirmation, activate a previously un-selectable component of saidconsolidated display; and iii. responsive to an interactive userselection via the first input interface window, of said activatedcomponent, generate a physical and customized shipping label forplacement upon said one or more packages by said customer, saidcustomized shipping label containing a combination of human- andmachine-readable indicia containing confirmation data associated withsaid received user confirmation, said confirmation data on thecustomized shipping label providing a visual assurance that said one ormore packages have been successfully processed via the shipping requestsystem; and (F) responsive to not identifying one or more correlationsor receiving a user input responsive to the query that does not directlyidentify said one or more restricted items, generate one or moreinstructions configured to automatically initiate further processing ofsaid shipment request without requiring further user confirmation. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more correlations comprise atleast one of a direct term match, a partial term match, a categoricalassociation, and one or more common misspellings of said input contentdata.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein said categorical associationsare selected from a group consisting of alcoholic beverages, tobaccoproducts, animal skins and furs, perishable goods, dangerous goods,plants and seeds, money and negotiable items, and firearms andammunition.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein said input content datacomprises at least the term “laptop” and said categorical associationscomprise “batteries” as a dangerous good.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein said one or more notifications comprises an alert of thepresence of one or more restricted items.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein said alert is at least one of a textual alert, an audible alert,or a visual alert.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein said one or morenotifications further comprise a display of information related to oneor more categories associated with said one or more restricted itemsindicated by said one or more correlations.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein said trigger data is dynamically updated to reflect acorrespondingly dynamic set of regulations associated with the transportof one or more packages via said common carrier service provider.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein in response to not identifying said one ormore correlations, said one or more computer processors are configuredto request confirmation that entry of input content data is completeprior to automatically facilitating further processing of said shipmentrequest.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein upon receipt of saidconfirmation, said one or more computer processors are furtherconfigured to generate one or more notifications for transmittal to oneor more users of said system.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein atleast one of said one or more notifications comprises a shipping labelfor said one or more packages associated with said shipping request. 12.The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more computer processors areconfigured to prevent further processing of said shipment request untilinput content data has been received and the existence of nocorrelations has been confirmed by a user of the system.
 13. The systemof claim 1, wherein: said one or more memory storage areas containshipping service data associated with one or more types of shippingservices available via said common carrier service provider; and saidone or more computer processors are configured to retrieve only aportion of said trigger data, said portion being that which is furtherassociated with a type of shipping service selected by a user of saidsystem.
 14. A non-transitory computer program product comprising atleast one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readableprogram code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable programcode portions comprising one or more executable portions configured toperform a method of providing a user interface configured to dynamicallydisplay, in response to input content data, restricted items potentiallyidentified within shipping requests for transport of one or morepackages via a common carrier service provider, said method comprisingthe steps of: (A) receiving and retrieving a plurality of data, whereinsaid data comprises: (i) restricted content data associated with one ormore restrictions placed upon package shipments handled by a commoncarrier service provider; and (ii) trigger data associated with one ormore terms related to said one or more restrictions; (B) providingwithin a first input interface window an input content data portion thatreceives user input content data; (C) dynamically scrubbing, on anindividual keystroke basis, input content data against said retrievedtrigger data to identify one or more correlations there-between, saidone or more correlations being indicative of a potential presence of oneor more restricted items, said input content data comprising one or moreterms descriptive of one or more items for which shipment is requestedvia said common carrier service provider, said input content data beingreceived via the first input interface window and from a user of ashipping request system configured for processing transport said packageshipments handled by said common carrier service provider; and (D) basedat least in part upon said dynamic scrubbing and further: (i) responsiveto said one or more identified correlations directly matching andidentifying one or more restricted items, automatically and dynamicallygenerating and automatically and dynamically updating, via the firstinput interface window, a consolidated display of selectable informationrelated to said one or more identified correlations and identifying oneor more restricted items wherein said selectable information of saidconsolidated display is automatically updated at a rate complementary toa measured rate at which said input content data is being received onsaid individual keystroke basis, wherein said selectable informationcomprises a textual and graphical identification of said one or morerestricted items, an identification of one or more categories of itemsrelated to said one or more restricted items, and a brief description ofone or more restrictions placed upon said one or more restricted items,wherein said selectable information is all generated and updated on saidfirst input interface window alongside said input content data, whereinsaid selectable information is viewable by said user of said shippingrequest system during ongoing entry of said input content data on saidindividual keystroke basis; and (ii) responsive to said one or moreidentified correlations not directly matching or identifying said one ormore restricted items, automatically and dynamically generate, in thefirst input interface window, a query-based prompt requiring user inputprior to receipt of further input content data on said individualkeystroke basis; (E) responsive to an interactive user selection of aportion of said displayed selectable information associated with saidone or more restricted items or receipt of an interactive user inputresponsive to the query-based prompt, whereby the user selection or theuser input directly matches and identifies said one or more restricteditems: (i) generating one or more notifications indicative of potentialpresence of one or more restricted items within said shipping request,said one or more notifications being configured to prompt additionaluser confirmation, via the first input interface window, that norestricted items are actually present and to prevent further processingof said shipment request pending said user confirmation; (ii) inresponse to receiving said additional user confirmation, activating apreviously un-selectable component of said consolidated display; and(iii) responsive to an interactive user selection, via the first inputinterface window, of said activated component, generating a physical andcustomized shipping label for placement upon said one or more packagesby said customer, said customized shipping label containing acombination of human- and machine-readable indicia containingconfirmation data associated with said received user confirmation, saidconfirmation data on the customized shipping label providing a visualassurance that said one or more packages have been successfullyprocessed via the shipping request system; and (F) responsive to notidentifying one or more correlations or receiving a user inputresponsive to the query that does not directly identify said one or morerestricted items, generating one or more instructions configured toautomatically initiate further processing of said shipment requestwithout requiring further user confirmation.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer program product of claim 14, wherein: said third executableportion is further configured to dynamically generate one or morenotifications in response to identifying said one or more correlations.16. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 15, whereinsaid one or more correlations comprise at least one of a direct termmatch, a partial term match, a categorical association, and one or morecommon misspellings of said input content data.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer program product of claim 16, wherein: said display ofinformation is based at least in part upon said one or more correlationscomprising a categorical association with said trigger data; and saiddisplay of information comprises a categorically-formatted display of atleast a portion of said restricted content data related to one or morerestricted items associated with said one or more correlations.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer program product of claim 14, wherein said thirdexecutable portion is further configured for preventing furtherprocessing of said shipment request pending receipt of confirmationdata, said confirmation data comprising at least one of an indicationthat no restricted items have been identified as existing within saidone or more packages for which shipment via said common carrier serviceprovider is requested and an indication that any identified restricteditems have been removed from including within said one or more packagesfor which shipment via said common carrier service provider isrequested.
 19. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 18,wherein said third executable portion is further configured forpreventing further processing of said shipment request until at least aportion of input content data has been received.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer program product of claim 14, wherein said third executableportion is further configured for facilitating further processing ofsaid shipment request by, at least in part, generating at least oneshipment label for said one or more packages for which shipment via saidcommon carrier service provider is requested, said shipment labelcomprising an indication thereon that no restricted items have beenidentified there-within.
 21. A computer-implemented method for providinga user interface that dynamically displays, in response to input contentdata, one or more restricted items potentially identified withinshipping requests for transport of one or more packages via a commoncarrier service provider, said method comprising the steps of: (A)receiving and storing within one or more memory storage areas triggerdata associated with one or more terms related to one or morerestrictions placed upon contents of package shipments handled by saidcommon carrier service provider; (B) providing within a first inputinterface window an input content data portion that receives user inputcontent data; (C) receiving, via the first input interface window andfrom a user of said shipping request system, input content datacomprising one or more terms descriptive of one or more items for whichshipment is requested via said common carrier service provider; (D)dynamically scrubbing, on an individual keystroke basis and via at leastone computer processor, said input content data against said retrievedtrigger data to identify one or more correlations there-between, saidone or more correlations being indicative of a potential presence of oneor more restricted items; (E) based at least in part upon said dynamicscrubbing and further: i. responsive to said one or more identifiedcorrelations directly matching and identifying one or more restricteditems, automatically and dynamically generating and automatically anddynamically updating, via said at least one computer processor and thefirst input interface window, a consolidated display of selectableinformation related to said one or more identified correlations andidentifying one or more restricted items wherein said selectableinformation of said consolidated display is automatically updated at arate complementary to a measured rate at which said input content datais being received on said individual keystroke basis, wherein saidselectable information comprises a textual and graphical identificationof said one or more restricted items, an identification of one or morecategories of items related to said one or more restricted items, and abrief description of one or more restrictions placed upon said one ormore restricted items, wherein said selectable information is allgenerated and updated on said first input interface window alongsidesaid input content data, wherein said selectable information is viewableby said user of said shipping request system during ongoing entry ofsaid input content data on said individual keystroke basis; and ii.responsive to said one or more identified correlations not directlymatching or identifying said one or more restricted items, automaticallyand dynamically generating, via the at least one computer processor andwithin the first input interface window, a query-based prompt requiringuser input prior to receipt of further input content data on saidindividual keystroke basis; (F) responsive to an interactive userselection of a portion of said displayed selectable informationassociated with said one or more restricted items or receipt of aninteractive user input responsive to the query-based prompt, whereby theuser selection or the user input directly matches and identifies saidone or more restricted items: i. generating one or more notificationsindicative of potential presence of one or more restricted items withinsaid shipping request, said one or more notifications being configuredto prompt additional user confirmation, via the first input interfacewindow, that no restricted items are actually present and to preventfurther processing of said shipment request pending said userconfirmation; ii. in response to receiving said additional userconfirmation, activating a previously un-selectable component of saidconsolidated display; and iii. responsive to an interactive userselection, via the first input interface window, of said activatedcomponent, generating, via said one or more computer processors, aphysical and customized shipping label for placement upon said one ormore packages by said customer, said customized shipping labelcontaining a combination of human- and machine-readable indiciacontaining confirmation data associated with said received userconfirmation, said confirmation data on the customized shipping labelproviding a visual assurance that said one or more packages have beensuccessfully processed via the shipping request system; and (G)responsive to not identifying one or more correlations or receiving auser input responsive to the query that does not directly identify saidone or more restricted items, generating one or more instructionsconfigured to automatically initiate further processing of said shipmentrequest without requiring further user confirmation.
 22. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising the stepsof: receiving and storing within one or more memory storage areasrestricted content data associated with said one or more restrictionsplaced upon contents of package shipments handled by said common carrierservice provider; and in response to identifying one or morecorrelations, generating a display providing to a user at least aportion of said restricted content data, said portion being that whichis categorically associated with said one or more trigger terms forwhich said one or more correlations are identified.
 23. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising the step offacilitating further processing of said shipping request only uponreceipt of input content data and at least one of a confirmation that atleast one of no correlations were identified and a confirmation that anyidentified correlations have been resolved.